EDMOND, Okla. – San Francisco State maintained a spot in the national team poll, according to the latest Division II rankings released Wednesday by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).
The Gators, who slipped one position to No. 20 with 16 points, are one of five Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) teams in this week's poll, joining fifth-ranked Nebraska-Kearney (129 pts.), No. 7 Grand Canyon (107 pts.), ninth-ranked Adams State (Colo.) (97 pts.) and No. 18 Western State (Colo.) (19 pts.).
St. Cloud State (Minn.), claimed the top spot for the second straight poll, totaling 160 points, followed by Newberry (S.C.), which racked up 152 points, while Upper Iowa (135 pts.) and Augustana (S.D.) (135 pts.) tied for third.
SF State (3-6) looks to put the brakes on a three-match slide on Saturday, Jan. 28, when it travels to Phoenix, Ariz., to battle the aforementioned Adams State (4-0) and Grand Canyon (11-3) squads in an RMAC doubleheader, beginning at 2 and 6 p.m. PT, respectively.
The Gators came up short in a pair of non-conference dual meets at home last weekend, falling to Division I Stanford by a 25-12 tally on Jan. 20, before suffering a 22-15 setback at the hands of NAIA-power Southern Oregon the following evening.
Individually, the Gators are led by junior
Isaiah Jimenez, who owns a team-best .737 winning percentage after compiling a 14-5 record in the 165-pound weight class so far this season, while redshirt freshman
Daniel Flores (141) tops the squad with 16 wins. Not to be outdone, sophomore
Dylan Phillipy (149) has 14 victories to his credit as well, while senior
Arman Ostadsharif (174) was the lone SF State grappler to post a 2-0 record against Stanford and Southern Oregon.
The Gators emerged victorious in their last meeting with Grand Canyon, posting a 25-13 triumph in Phoenix during the 2009-10 campaign. Conversely, Adams State was a 33-6 winner over SF State the last time the two schools faced one another at the Embry-Riddle Duals during the 2007-08 season.
Following this weekend's slate, the Gators will return to The Swamp for their final two home matches of the season on Friday, Feb. 3 when they tackle Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Baptist, starting at 1 p.m.
Complete Rankings
